The Rangers need to build on that third period

The Rangers scored six goals in the third period against Detroit on Thursday night, an outburst we had been waiting on for the first 14 games of the season. It was the best possible ending to the first game of a seven game stretch where the Rangers really should  to win all 7 games. One six goal period isn’t enough though, the Rangers need to build on that third period and continue banking points in what is a surprisingly competitive Metro Division.

Next up, the Rangers have back to back games starting tonight in Nashville and tomorrow back at MSG against Arizona. Awful scheduling aside, and luckily it’s a short flight from Nashville to JFK without a storm to worry about, these are again two winnable games. Nashville should be better, quite honestly, but they aren’t. So it’s another good test where the Rangers need to avoid playing down to their opponent. Arizona should be worse, but they are at .500 hockey. Bizarro hockey world.

But as mentioned on Live From The Blue Seats, this one win isn’t enough, as strong as it was. The four game west coast trip is another four games where the Rangers should win all four. Expecting them to win all seven of these games isn’t overly realistic. As much as they should, it’s difficult to win seven games in a row. The strong win against Detroit is two of the 10 points they should be walking away with before the Oilers game at MSG. Bare minimum.

The Blueshirts have two things going for them. They have the momentum after that win, and they are finally healthy. The Rangers missed Ryan Lindgren immensely, and getting him back helped stabilize the blue line. With Libor Hajek showing he can (finally) hold his own, the Rangers have an opportunity to rest one of Zac Jones or Braden Schneider to help them develop and watch from up top. If anything, this helps the Rangers not miss a beat and build on the third period.

There wasn’t a need to panic about the Blueshirts with their .500 start. And while we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves with one fun third period, it is hopefully a sign of things to come. But the team needs to hold onto that killer instinct. It starts tonight in Nashville. Good process is needed, but finishing is too. Back to back wins before the west coast swing is one way to avoid panic.